Federal case seeking the freedom to marry in Indiana and recognition of legal out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples.

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Lambda Legal is seeking the freedom to marry in Indiana as well as the recognition of legal out of state marriages of same-sex couples.

Lambda Legal filed the lawsuit against Boone County Clerk Penny Bogan, Porter County Clerk Karen M. Martin, and Lake County Clerk Michael A. Brown, as well as Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller on behalf of three same-sex couples. Rae Baskin (60) and Esther Fuller (78), Bonne Everly (56) and Linda Judkins (57), and Dawn Lynn Carver (41) and Pamela Eanes (50). Ms. Baskin and Ms. Fuller have been together for twenty-four years and reside in Whitestown, Indiana. Ms. Everly and Ms. Judkins have been in a loving, committed relationship for over thirteen years and live in Chesterton, Indiana. Ms. Carver and Ms. Eanes, residents of Munster Indiana, have shared their lives together for seventeen years. All three couples wish to marry in Indiana, which bans marriage for gay and lesbian couples.

History

March 31, 2014 Lambda Legal amends the complaint and adds Mr. Funkhouser and Mr. Greene, as well as Ms. Sandler and Ms. Quasney. Lambda Legal also requests a temporary restraining order, seeking the immediate recognition of Ms. Sandler and Ms. Quasney’s marriage from Massachusetts.

April 10, 2014 A federal court in Indiana grants emergency relief for Ms. Sandler and Ms. Quasney, who is battling cancer, and orders the state to recognize their Massachusetts marriage for at least 28 days.

May 2, 2014 Lambda Legal argues before a federal court in Indiana that it should strike down the state’s discriminatory ban on the freedom to marry and respect for out-of-state marriages of same-sex couples. Lambda Legal further requested the court to extend its order to recognize the marriage of Ms. Sandler and Ms. Quasney.

May 8, 2014 A federal court once again ordered the state to recognize the marriage of Ms. Sandler and Ms. Quasney through the duration of the lawsuit. Attorney General Greg Zoeller appeals the court order.

May 12, 2014 Lambda Legal opposes the defendant's motion for a stay of the court's ruling.

June 25, 2014 U.S. District Court Judge Richard L. Young ruled that Indiana’s discriminatory ban on marriage for same-sex couples is unconstitutional.

June 27, 2014 The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals grants Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller’s emergency motion to stay the freedom to marry for all Hoosiers. The court also consolidated the case with two other marriage cases in Indiana, Lee v. Pence and Midori Fujii v. State of Indiana.

July 1 2014 The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals issued an order compelling the State of Indiana to continue to recognize the marriage of Lambda Legal plaintiffs Amy Sandler and Niki Quasney while the case proceeds.

September 4, 2014 In a unanimous 3-0 decision, the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals struck down discriminatory marriage bans for same-sex couples in Indiana and Wisconsin less than two weeks after attorneys from Lambda Legal argued on behalf of five Indiana plaintiff couples in the case Baskin v. Bogan and attorneys from The American Civil Liberties Union argued on behalf of thirteen plaintiff couples from Indiana and Wisconsin.

September 9, 2014 Indiana Attorney General Zoeller asked the Supreme Court of the United States to review Baskin v. Bogan, the Lambda Legal lawsuit seeking marriage equality for same-sex couples in Indiana. Within hours, Lambda Legal filed papers supporting the request for review.